


Like Glitter for the Soul

by htbthomas



Category: Sing (2016)
Genre: Backstory, Gen, Glitter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-17 08:35:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13073166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/htbthomas/pseuds/htbthomas
Summary: It all started with just one. But in Gunter's book, more is more!





	Like Glitter for the Soul

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lorelei](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lorelei/gifts).



> Thank you to Tuesday for the beta help!

It all started with one.

Just a tiny piece of shimmering light, stuck to the edge of a scrap of fabric, but when it caught Gunter's eye, he was drawn to it as surely as a raven. And just like that raven, he brought it back to his nest. 

"What do you keep staring at?" Hans asked him. Wilhelm and Karl also craned their necks to see. There wasn't much to look at in his home other than the flashing of the television set that had captured the rest of his litter-mates.

He didn't answer at first, not because he was afraid to, but because he didn't know its name yet. But he would find out. He had to find out.

"This," he said, showing it to Hans (and Wilhelm and Karl). "Look how it _sparkles_." 

"Pretty," Hans said, then turned back to the TV. Wilhelm and Karl lost interest as soon as Hans did.

But Gunter turned it this way and that in the light, fascinated by the way it changed color depending on the angle. And then by the way it cast more sparkles on the wall beside him.

If one of these mysterious, beautiful gems could do this, imagine what two could do. Or three. Or—or... His eyes got wide, just imagining it. _Hundreds_. An entire sea of them.

After all, if one was this amazing...

* * *

His mother called it a spangle. His teacher called it a sparkle. The nice lady at the craft store called it glitter. In the fabric store it was a sequin. There were even more names than that.

Somehow that seemed fitting to Gunter. Something so fantastic couldn't just have one name, not and describe all its fabulousness. 

He started to save his allowance to buy glitter pens and jackets with sequined lettering. When he couldn't find enough, he learned to sew so that he could make entire items of clothing with it. A spangled collar was lovely, but an entire v-neck shirt was even better.

He ignored the jealous glances he got whenever he wore them to school. He offered to sell what he made, even to give them away, but strangely no one ever took him up on it. 

For example, he could tell that Hans wanted one, the way he'd stare and make little comments like, "Those pants are just...too much."

Of course, there could never be _too_ much sparkle in an item of clothing, that was ridiculous. "I can make you one, brother," he would say. "A pair of silver leggings would go beautifully with your coloring and complement my gold ones."

"Uh," Hans would say, blushing, a color that would go with silver even more perfectly, "no thanks." 

Well, it was really his loss. Gunter would dress up the entire family like a sparkling rainbow if he could. He'd tried. He'd shrug. There was just no accounting for taste.

* * *

When he was finally old enough to go out on his own, he'd developed a nice little side business for custom-made garments. 

But sometimes he'd just want to buy something pre-made, not have to worry about finding a good pattern and cutting it to just the right size for his perfect piggy proportions, but it was hard. It seemed like the only clothing stores that sold items with the right amount of sparkle were for formal wear.

Along with his side business, he worked at a formal wear shop and was one of the top salesmen. People came from all over the city looking for Gunter's opinion on just the right dress, just the right cummerbund. But there were so few good occasions for formal wear. 

Then he found the dancewear shop. Not because he was a dancer—oh no—but because the clothing was to die for. He'd wear a sparkling bolero jacket here, a pair of sequined wingtips there, both purchased at a dancewear shop. They made for a lovely splash of light on a gloomy day. And on a sunny day? Well, that was the best, the way the sequins caught the light and splashed it in all directions. He wished there was a way to carry the sun with you all the time.

His first dance recital was a revelation.

He'd come to support one of his clients, who looked smashing in a sapphire leotard with glittering fringe. As she moved, the fringe caught the spotlight, it gleamed in the footlights, and it glowed whenever the color palette changed.

He signed up for dance classes the next day.

* * *

As he flitted through the foxtrot, twirled through the tango and waltzed through the, well, waltz, he wondered why he'd never done this before. Dance was so...freeing!

The way the sequins caught the light was only a side-benefit—an amazing side-benefit, but secondary nonetheless. Most important was how dancing made him _feel_. It was like the way glitter felt to his eyes, but in his heart. An explosion of feeling that sparkled out for the world to see. 

Soon he was dancing in the shop to the background music playing tinnily over the speakers. He was dancing with his customers to help them see how their skirts flowed around their legs and his as they spun. He was bopping to the beat of his own personal soundtrack as he walked to his car each night.

And something happened all around him. People began to smile.

Always before, people's faces would transform with wonder or freeze as they were dazzled by the play of light, but now? Now they would seem to dance along with him, to shed the weariness of their days and join him in the happiness he'd always felt on the inside.

Dancing was like glitter for the soul.

* * *

"Rosita," he said. "You must trust me. This costume is exactly what the number needs."

Rosita plucked at the black shimmering fabric as if it were one of her kids' dirty athletic uniforms. "I don't know. Can we maybe make it into a...a dress or something?"

"A dress?" Gunter considered. A dress used more fabric than a leotard, and more sequins was always more in his book. "Yes! A lovely flowing train that you can swish to and fro to the beat? Yes!" He gathered her into a hug. "That is a brilliant idea, Rosita!" 

"R-really?" she asked, mouth muffled by his shoulders. 

"Yes! But also, I think, a cowl. More is more!"

When the lights came up on her outfit at the show and he heard the audience gasp with delight, he was sure he would burst out of his cardboard washing machine costume—which he did, right on cue.

For the first time, they were perfectly in sync as dance partners. She had finally let the glitter into her heart.

He was so proud.

* * *

The months after the show were the busiest ever. The owner of the formal wear shop opened an entire section for Gunter's creations— _As Seen at the Moon Theater!_ Even Hans came and bought one (or three). The extra money helped him put a down payment on the apartment above the dance studio he'd always wanted.

It might have started with one. But if Gunter has his way, he'll have this whole city sparkling from the inside out.


End file.
